All good things must come to an end.
Reliever A.J. Martin came in during the ninth right after Hannibal took a two-run lead during the bottom of the eighth inning of the second game of Hannibal’s double-header against Danville.
The reliever did something unusual, he slid to the pitchers mound while “Friday” by Rebecca Black played on the speakers, which eventually segued out to his normal music “Sexy Boy”.
Martin said after Tuesday’s 10-9 victory over Springfield that he had been saving that entrance.
Martin pitched a one-two-three inning in the top of the ninth to clinch the first Cavemen winning season in franchise history as well as a doubleheader sweep. The score of game-two was 6-4.
The final out recorded at Clemens Field during the 2011 season was fitting, as 2011 Cavemen Defensive Player of the Year Trey Lang made a diving catch. The first game ended in similar fashion.
After the last out was made, a fireworks display started for the fans who stuck it out through two ballgames.
The score of game one was 12-4.
Some highlights of game one include a home run by third baseman C.K. Irby, a diving catch by right fielder Trey Lang, which he followed up with a put-out at first base, and a complete game performance by starting pitcher James Coon of Culver-Stockton.
For a game that was originally cancelled due to rain, the sky threatened to make that a problem for the athletes again today, but rain only fell before the game. The game started where the second one left off: in the second inning with catcher Michael Tucker at first.
Game one started around 5:10 p.m. and ended at about 7:20 p.m. Game two started about 40 minutes after the end of game one, and featured the starting debut of Maxwell Frederick for Hannibal, who faced stiff competition in Danville ace Michael Wagner.
Wagner has a 2.72 ERA and lived up to his billing as an ace early on against the Hannibal offense could not manage a hit against Wagner for the first three innings of play.
The only base-runner to reach was All-star left fielder Matt Burton, who reached base on catcher’s interference.
Frederick did not have as much luck over the first three innings as Danville leadoff hitting second baseman Zach Maggio reached on an error from C.K. Irby, which was followed by a double from center fielder Bryan Langlois to put men at second and third.
Third baseman Zach Miller un-clogged the bases with a double of his own to give Danville a 2-0 lead. Frederick retired the next three men to end the threat.
The score was kept at 2-0 until the top of the fourth inning when an error by catcher Alan Cheatham allowed left fielder Zane Dillon to score the third run of the game for Danville. Dillon had reached base on a one-out single.
Hannibal answered back in the bottom of the inning by scoring in a similar way Danville did in the first inning. First baseman Nick Rountree became the first Caveman to reach base since the first inning after shortstop Taed Moses committed an error.
Designated hitter Jeff Zimmerman struck out to become the next out, but Lang walked to keep the inning alive for Irby. Irby hit a double to knock in both runs and was advanced to third on an error, the second error for Danville on the inning.
Right fielder Andrew Vallejo hit a sacrifice to extend its lead by one, but Hannibal would negate that in the bottom of the fifth by scoring two more to tie the game.
Second baseman Jake Mangler led off the inning with a double. Mangler reached third on a wild pitch, and was then hit in by shortstop Ray Fuentes, who hit an RBI double.
Fuentes would then score on a Burton single to tie the game back up.
Coklin Nguyen relieved Frederick and pitched two of his best innings as a Caveman by going 1-2-3 in both innings of work. Wagner worked the sixth for Danville and kept the Cavemen off the board and Austin Buck relieved him in the seventh inning.
Reliever Kyle Glancy picked up for Nguyen in the eighth inning, and despite allowing a single, pitched well, striking out two men.
The eighth is where the Cavemen made it a triad of twos, as for the third time in the game, the Cavemen put up two runs on the board. The men to knock in these runs were two of the biggest presences during this doubleheader. Lang recorded a double that scored Zimmerman after an error by the pitcher and Irby hit a double to knock in Lang to make the score 6-4 where it would stay.
The Cavemen wrap up the 2011 Prospect League season with a game at 6:35 p.m. at Robin Roberts Field against the Springfield Sliders today, Aug. 6.
|
|
|
All good things must come to an end.
Reliever A.J. Martin came in during the ninth right after Hannibal took a two-run lead during the bottom of the eighth inning of the second game of Hannibal’s double-header against Danville.
The reliever did something unusual, he slid to the pitchers mound while “Friday” by Rebecca Black played on the speakers, which eventually segued out to his normal music “Sexy Boy”.
Martin said after Tuesday’s 10-9 victory over Springfield that he had been saving that entrance.
Martin pitched a one-two-three inning in the top of the ninth to clinch the first Cavemen winning season in franchise history as well as a doubleheader sweep. The score of game-two was 6-4.
The final out recorded at Clemens Field during the 2011 season was fitting, as 2011 Cavemen Defensive Player of the Year Trey Lang made a diving catch. The first game ended in similar fashion.
After the last out was made, a fireworks display started for the fans who stuck it out through two ballgames.
The score of game one was 12-4.
Some highlights of game one include a home run by third baseman C.K. Irby, a diving catch by right fielder Trey Lang, which he followed up with a put-out at first base, and a complete game performance by starting pitcher James Coon of Culver-Stockton.
For a game that was originally cancelled due to rain, the sky threatened to make that a problem for the athletes again today, but rain only fell before the game. The game started where the second one left off: in the second inning with catcher Michael Tucker at first.
Game one started around 5:10 p.m. and ended at about 7:20 p.m. Game two started about 40 minutes after the end of game one, and featured the starting debut of Maxwell Frederick for Hannibal, who faced stiff competition in Danville ace Michael Wagner.
Wagner has a 2.72 ERA and lived up to his billing as an ace early on against the Hannibal offense could not manage a hit against Wagner for the first three innings of play.
The only base-runner to reach was All-star left fielder Matt Burton, who reached base on catcher’s interference.
Frederick did not have as much luck over the first three innings as Danville leadoff hitting second baseman Zach Maggio reached on an error from C.K. Irby, which was followed by a double from center fielder Bryan Langlois to put men at second and third.
Third baseman Zach Miller un-clogged the bases with a double of his own to give Danville a 2-0 lead. Frederick retired the next three men to end the threat.
The score was kept at 2-0 until the top of the fourth inning when an error by catcher Alan Cheatham allowed left fielder Zane Dillon to score the third run of the game for Danville. Dillon had reached base on a one-out single.
Hannibal answered back in the bottom of the inning by scoring in a similar way Danville did in the first inning. First baseman Nick Rountree became the first Caveman to reach base since the first inning after shortstop Taed Moses committed an error.
Designated hitter Jeff Zimmerman struck out to become the next out, but Lang walked to keep the inning alive for Irby. Irby hit a double to knock in both runs and was advanced to third on an error, the second error for Danville on the inning.
Right fielder Andrew Vallejo hit a sacrifice to extend its lead by one, but Hannibal would negate that in the bottom of the fifth by scoring two more to tie the game.
Second baseman Jake Mangler led off the inning with a double. Mangler reached third on a wild pitch, and was then hit in by shortstop Ray Fuentes, who hit an RBI double.
Fuentes would then score on a Burton single to tie the game back up.
Coklin Nguyen relieved Frederick and pitched two of his best innings as a Caveman by going 1-2-3 in both innings of work. Wagner worked the sixth for Danville and kept the Cavemen off the board and Austin Buck relieved him in the seventh inning.
Reliever Kyle Glancy picked up for Nguyen in the eighth inning, and despite allowing a single, pitched well, striking out two men.
The eighth is where the Cavemen made it a triad of twos, as for the third time in the game, the Cavemen put up two runs on the board. The men to knock in these runs were two of the biggest presences during this doubleheader. Lang recorded a double that scored Zimmerman after an error by the pitcher and Irby hit a double to knock in Lang to make the score 6-4 where it would stay.
The Cavemen wrap up the 2011 Prospect League season with a game at 6:35 p.m. at Robin Roberts Field against the Springfield Sliders today, Aug. 6.
